May 11, 2015
Choices or Sins?
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm
130:4, KJV
The artist presumed that it would make the viewer laugh. It was a cartoon
showing a man standing at the gates of heaven confronted by an angry-looking
St. Peter who was blocking his entrance to heaven. Peter was holding a long
list of the man's sins. With the look of bewilderment on his face, the man
responded, "Sins? What do you mean sins? I thought those were lifestyle
choices!"
When an author whose best-selling books made their way into bookstores
around the world became involved with another woman, he reluctantly admitted
his infidelity, referring to it as a "poor choice," and a "mistake" which he
regretted, but the word sin didn't make the confessional.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a common-sense talk show host who refuses to let
people get away with irresponsibility. As often as not, people who call her
expecting a pat on the head hang up the phone feeling more like a whipped
puppy. Recently she wrote, "Every day on my radio program I talk with
people who have gotten into all sorts of troubled, unhappy and unworkable
situations because they put aside questions of what was sensible, good,
right, legal, moral or holy and turned instead to what they thought were
worthy, viable alternatives. And always, they have excuses-excuses that may
sound good but that don't stand up to careful examination. 'Things are
different now,' people say to me."
Another common theme, says Dr. Laura, is the "Everybody's doing it" line, to
which she responds, "In the final analysis, the 'everybody's doing it'
excuse amounts to dropping humanity to its lowest common denominator."
Dr. Karl Menninger, the renowned psychiatrist, asked the question, Whatever
Became of Sin? in the title of his book on personal responsibility. Have
we gone soft on sin? Has the word become obsolete? Have we forgotten that
there is still a God in heaven who holds us accountable for those "poor
choices?"
"I have sinned," is a phrase used seldom today in accounting for our
misdeeds.
Interestingly enough, it was an Egyptian ruler, the Pharaoh who did battle
with Moses over the issue of whether or not the cheap labor that had built
Egypt should be allowed to emigrate, who first used the phrase, "I have
sinned" in the Bible. He wasn't alone, either. Tracing the use of that
phrase chronologically in the Old Testament, the next person to voice those
words was a sort of New Age Guru before his time, Balaam, whose donkey had
more sense than he did. It was also used by King Saul and his successor
David, who cried out, "I have sinned greatly." In the New Testament both
Judas, who betrayed Jesus Christ, and the Prodigal confessed, "I have
sinned."
Dr. Laura suggests that people believe things are different now. And who
wouldn't like to believe that? While people are different, the issue of
moral and spiritual wrongdoing has never changed. We still are born, live,
die and face the consequences of our moral actions.
A closing thought which brings the whole issue into perspective: To
acknowledge your personal responsibility for wrong-doing (which the Bible
calls sin) may be difficult, but in doing that, the door to forgiveness and
life is opened. Reflecting on his affair with Bathsheba, David cried out,
"But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared" (Psalm
130:4, KJV). God forgives sin, but the stupidity of refusing to acknowledge
personal irresponsibility is unforgivable. "For the wages of sin is death,"
says Paul, quickly adding, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
Forgiveness is the solution to our human failure, but until we are
forthright and honest enough to admit the reality of sin, we play word games
with ourselves and still walk in darkness. Think about it.
Resource reading: Romans 6
Disclaimer: The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is
copyrighted. You are authorized to download this selection and use it for
your own personal use. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is
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Marguerite Parkway. Suite F, Mission Viejo, CA 92692, USA.
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Victoria E Gilkerson
